The Plan To Steal The Election

Posted: July 15, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This “Iran War Participation Trophy” appeared on the National Mall near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The ten foot statue dedicated to Donald J. Trump was created by the satirical art group “Secret Handshake.” (Picture by Christine Kao for The Washington Post)

As usual, there is a lot going on in the world and in the United States. It is hard to keep up with it all as Trump tries to keep us all off balance with a long list of crazy shenanigans. He is ill. Unfortunately, people’s lives are at stake and real people are getting killed and injured. The Iran War is back with a frenzy as both sides carry out massive attacks and the Strait of Hormuz is closed for all practical purposes. It turns out that, as expected, a poorly worded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) does not end wars. The U.S. has two choices. Invade Iran (a terribly foolish thing to do) or sit down for serious discussions with serious people involved (not two real estate investors that are more interested in their own gain).

Last week two innocent people were killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. One was in Texas, one was in Maine, and they were both hard-working fathers and husbands. It turns out that ICE had the wrong migrants, they were not the men that ICE thought they were. OOPS. That is about as much care as the administration has for killing two innocent men and then lying about it. We still do not have anyone held accountable for the killing of two American citizens in Minnesota earlier this year.

For Trump and his tech bros and other members of the Epstein Class, things go on as before. They continue to enrich themselves at our expense without giving it a second thought. The next project for them to make money from by using public land for private purposes is the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC on 22 and 23 August. It will be a motor car race on the streets of DC around the mall. The race is free for peons, but once again, there will be VIP areas for those willing to pay up. The Champions Club seats cost five thousand dollars and “sponsorships” can reach into the millions.

But wait! There’s more! And I think it will be the beginning of the end of our democratic republic.

On Thursday night 16 July, probably on every major television network, Trump will give an address to the nation. It is expected to be wide-ranging and reminiscent of his typical campaign style speeches. Trump’s greatest hits coming to you live from the White House. It would be easy to ignore or to laugh off. Very easy. We have heard it all countless times before. However, I worry that there will be a message hidden, or maybe in our face, that threatens our upcoming elections. News reports indicate that he will “declassify” information about the 2020 election that allegedly proves that the election was “rigged” or at least interfered with by outside entities. Nearly six years later it is suddenly found. Amazing. Here is the background.

As we know, the individual states, rather than the federal government, are responsible for elections. That alone makes it very difficult to rig or hijack an election. History shows that, especially in recent decades, the states take that responsibility very seriously and work hard to ensure that all eligible voters get to vote, that their ballot is secret, and that every valid ballot is counted. They keep the process transparent while ensuring the safety and security of the voters and the ballots. It works. Trump does not like it. Or at least he does not like it when he loses. (I find it ironic that the 2016 and 2024 elections were run under Democrat administrations and Trump won so they were free and fair. But the 2020 election, run under the Trump administration, was rigged so that Trump lost. How does that work?) Again, as ridiculous as all of this sounds, it is a serious threat. Some opine that Trump cannot tolerate losing and so he continues to whine about an election from six years ago. I think he is laying the ground work for something bigger.

Looking at the sequence of events, I find it disturbing that a plan is being executed step by step to interfere with elections, if indeed they take place as expected. Trump has long been pushing for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act which would keep an estimated 20 million eligible voters from voting by among other things, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote using birth certificates or passports and such registration would have to be done in person. (There are already laws prohibiting non-citizens from voting. The instances of illegal voting are infinitesimally small.) Expect Trump to push it hard in his speech. For info, thirty-six states require some form of identification at the polling place. Usually, a REAL ID suffices. Those cards would not be sufficient under Trump’s proposal.

Earlier in his administration, Trump gutted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The agency was specifically chartered to ensure that there was no foreign or domestic election interference. It is now essentially unable to do its job.

Trump recently fired, or forced the resignation, of all four of the commissioners that run the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), This is a bipartisan agency created by Congress specifically to help states run free and fair elections. It aids in training poll workers, certifying voting machines, and other functions to ensure that state and local officials maintain the safety and security of our elections. They are now effectively neutered.

At the same time, Trump appointed William “Bill” Pulte as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Pulte has no intelligence experience whatsoever, despite the fact that the law requires it. You may recognize the name. He is the thirty-eight year old heir to Pulte Homes, the construction company founded by his grandfather — you may have seen their adds on television. He was doing such a great job, he was fired by the company’s Board of Directors. He is currently the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a job he still holds while also the acting Director of Intelligence. As head of the FHFA, he is the guy who is trying to dig up dirt on people on Trump’s enemies list and pushing for their convictions on fraud — where most experienced attorneys see no case. A good guy. But he does whatever dirty job Trump gives him. He is the one that “discovered” new evidence of election fraud that Trump will expose Thursday night.

Do you see a pattern here? The actions above are only a partial list of election developments.

Trump is especially attacking mail-in voting (although he always votes that way) and voting machines. According to the Encyclopedia of American Politics, all states allow for some form of absentee or mail-in voting. Thirteen states require voters to provide a valid excuse to vote absentee or by mail. Twenty-nine states allow any eligible voter to cast an absentee or mail-in ballot. Eight states have automatic mail-in ballot systems, also known as all-mail voting systems. Eliminating mail-in voting would create hardships for many voters and create long lines at polling stations (especially if they also eliminate early voting). The intent is to suppress the vote. Although both parties would be impacted by such measures, statistics show that Democrats tend to use these methods more than Republicans. Voting machines also vary in type and use, although every state uses them in some capacity. Trump wants only paper ballots to be used. The logistics and time delays by going to only paper ballots would be complicated. Especially so, since Trump tries to prevent ballots from being counted on any day except Election Day.

Never forget that Trump sent a mob to try and overthrow the 2020 election. He pardoned about 1500 people that defaced the capitol, threatened lawmakers and attacked law enforcement officers. He pardoned them all and is trying to set up a fund to pay them off. Last week the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to the top election official in each state threatening to criminally prosecute them if any non-citizen casts a vote, among other things. He pardons those that do his bidding and threatens those that try to uphold the law.

So, what is Trump up to on Thursday? Hard to know. The best guess is that he will reveal that a foreign government — China and/or Venezuela (!) — interfered with voting machines or some other hairbrained scheme to throw the election to President Biden. It is part of his “shock and awe” campaign to confuse and discourage voters in order to suppress the vote. However, I doubt it stops there. It is possible that in order to defend the nation from foreign intervention, he will declare some sort of national emergency, nationalize the conduct of the election (under his rules) and otherwise prevent a free and fair election.

PBS reported on an existing draft Executive Order (E.O.) that would allow Trump to dictate how the election would be run. It matches fairly closely with proposals in the Project 2025 playbook which is the roadmap for this administration’s actions over the last eighteen months. The E.O. matches with the requirement for proof of citizenship, paper ballots, in person voting and hand counting of ballots. The justification would be a national emergency because of foreign interference.

Be ready. Although such an E.O. would be immediately challenged in court, its real purpose may be to create an actual national emergency. Certainly it would confuse and confound many voters and probably lead to a lower turnout than what is currently expected. A low turnout favors Trump.

Trump may be using the same old worn out script he uses year after year. It may be laughable, but it is dangerous. Whining is one thing. Action is another. Expect some kind of interference in the mid-terms. Trump is a crook, a liar, a grifter and cares only about himself. He knows that if the Democrats take control of Congress in the next election he and his grifting family will be held accountable. He cannot allow that to happen. A cornered animal fights back. Anything is possible with this administration.

I hope that I am wrong.

Appeasement, Donnie Style

Posted: June 19, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Federal workers are now on twelve hour shifts to clean up the algae bloom in Trump’s “pristine” reflection pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There probably could be no better metaphor for his administration. 14 million dollars on a no-bid contract to do, according to Trump, what no other president in history has done. To help kill the algae, the workers reportedly are also putting a 12 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide into the water where the bottom is painted “American flag blue”. Hydrogen peroxide in solutions over 10 percent acts as a paint remover. (photo-Facebook)

And it’s 1,2,3 what’re we fightin’ for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, next stop is ol’ Iran. And it’s 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates! Well, there ain’t no time to wonder why, Whoopee we’re all gonna die!

With apologies to Country Joe and the Fish for altering their 1969 “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin-To-Die-Rag” sometimes known as the “Vietnam Song” written by Country Joe McDonald.

What a week it has been. It is hard to keep track of it all, but foremost on my mind is the debacle that took place this week as we acceded to all of Iran’s demands to end the war of choice started by Trump. As I wrote earlier this week, the U.S. is the clear loser, no matter what kind of happy face Trump and his flunkies try to paint on it. To me, it is not even obvious that the terms of the agreement will last very long. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that Trump ceremonially signed with his trademark sharpie in the palace at Versailles France (oh, the historical irony) technically is not a treaty. It is supposed to be the framework for a more permanent peace agreement to be hammered out over the next sixty days. However, Trump and his administration are talking about it as if everything is already complete. If this is the end of it, then Iran got everything it wanted and the U.S. got nothing other than vague promises.

Indeed, there may be nothing more. In what can only be described as a fluid situation (government speak for nobody knows exactly what is going on), the follow on talks were postponed by Iran. They claim violations of the MOU are happening, especially on the part of Israel which was not a formal participant in the agreement. According to the MOU, the sixty day window started when the MOU was signed. All of this is to say, it reinforces my feeling that there may not be much in the way of formal negotiations to solidify the terms of the MOU.

There are fourteen points in the MOU which can be found here. In every detail, it is a humiliating end to a war that achieved nothing. While I am glad to see the fighting stop and an argument can be made that a bad deal is better than no deal, it is a clear sign of Trump’s ineptitude and preference to only look out for himself. The MOU achieves none of the alleged goals that were presented as the reason to go to war. The great victory the Trump administration is celebrating only requires Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, which was open to free navigation before the war began. As spelled out in the MOU, Iran will allow “the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.” (Emphasis added.) After 60 days they can consult with Oman to define the future administration of the strait which will surely include some form of fees to allow safe passage. Iran only reiterated its long standing position that they promise not to develop a nuclear weapon, a position they have espoused for decades. That is it. There are no provisions for inspections or otherwise monitoring Iran’s nuclear stockpile. Meanwhile, the U.S. lifts all of its sanctions and will work to lift international sanctions immediately which means Iran can get its oil to market at market prices where before, when they had to smuggle it out, they sold the oil at a discount. At current prices, that means Iran will earn about 105 billion dollars a year. Additionally, the U.S. will unfreeze Iranian assets and work to institute a 300 billion dollar “invest fund” for Iran to rebuild. None of those things will be monitored under this agreement. The MOU says nothing about Iran’s missile and drone programs or stopping its support for terrorists and proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Guess where those billions will go.

In essence, the MOU is a multi-billion dollar payment to get Iran to re-open the strait for 60 days. Coupled with vague promises to negotiate a more permanent deal to control Iranian nuclear stockpiles. We are worse off than we were before the war. Not to mention that we threw Israel under the bus by including Lebanon in the agreement without consulting Israel.

Thirteen U.S. service members, 165 young Iranian school girls and their teachers, thousands of civilians throughout the Middle East, all dead. Roughly 400 U.S. service members wounded. Iranian citizens yearning to throw out their oppressors were abandoned. (Trump told them in January that “Help is on its way!”) Billions and billions of dollars spent. Everything wasted for no discernible purpose.

From a purely historical viewpoint, the U.S. again had to relearn a lesson that has been tested many times since World War II. Wars cannot be won by air power alone, no matter how grand, courageous or incredible our air forces and personnel may be. Ground troops have to be used at some point or the enemy can just wait out the onslaught. The Battle of Britain in 1940 showed that the first time around and we have relearned the lesson over and over since then. If your war aims are “unconditional surrender” — which Trump demanded at the start of the war — then ground troops are needed. If a nation does not want to do that — and thank goodness we did not put troops into Iran — then you may have tactical or operational success but not strategic success. It also says something about the will of those involved in the fighting. A nation may have tremendous military capabilities, but if there is not the will to fight at any cost, success is going to be relative.

Trump did tell the truth in one way. During a press conference at the G-7 conference in Evian, France this week he said, “I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is, every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship.” Trump went on to say that he stopped the fighting, “rather than possibly going into a depression, rather than having your favorite president be Herbert Hoover, he was always the one I didn’t want to be.” In other words, he admitted that his economy was not “golden” and that things could get even worse if the war continued. Specifically, the economic impact of the war was intolerable and that the world was facing a severe shortage of oil. At the G-7 conference on June 17, he said if he hadn’t agreed to the MOU, the U.S. “would run out of [oil] reserves in about four weeks.”

Hold on a second. About those ballistic missiles. Did Trump let Iran keep their missile programs? The ones that Secretary of Defense Hegseth said that the goal of the war was to “destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production.” Yes. Apparently the Iranians can keep their ballistic missiles and programs because, otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair. But I will let Trump explain it. “I mean, they have to have some because other people have some. You’ve got to have some,” Trump went on: “‘Sir, you shouldn’t let them have any missiles.’ I said, ‘Well, what am I going to do? I’m going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but they can’t have them?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ It can’t — doesn’t work that way,” Trump said. 

So there you go.

The war did not weaken the Iranian regime or strengthen the U.S. Gulf states will now have to deal with a revitalized Iran that keeps its war making capability and is now richer, stronger and tougher with the knowledge that it can survive an American attack.

On a brighter note, the Obama Center officially opened yesterday. All living presidents and their wives — except for the current one — attended the joyous celebration surrounding the opening. It reminded me of what America can be when we stick to our values and traditions.

And Happy Juneteenth!

A Tough Week For the USA

Posted: May 17, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

President Xi Jinping of China greets Donald Trump in Beijing. Trump tried his “yank-shake” handshake as he arrived in Tiananmen Square to meet with Xi. It did not work as Xi stood calmly but firmly. Trump ended up tapping his hand multiple times and held his hand a remarkably long time. It seemed a test of wills that Xi appeared to win. That was the first of many wins for China during the summit. (Photo by AJP/Getty)

Last week Trump travelled to China for a long planned summit with Xi Jinping. It did not go well. One of many such failures as the war of choice against Iran continues, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, prices continue to rise, Trump remains fixated on his ballroom, arch and reflection pool, and we learned of his plans to use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to create a slush fund with taxpayer money to raise a private army to do his bidding in the lead up to the mid-term elections. Just another week in May under the Trump regime.

Nearly every analyst and former U.S. government diplomat not on Fox News deemed Trump’s visit to China as an unmitigated humiliation. The Chinese did what they do very well by putting on a great show for Trump that included everything from military units in formation to young children waving flags and singing. Trump soaked it all in with undisguised glee while at every turn doing all that he could to flatter, praise and openly admire Xi in hopes of being his friend. Meanwhile, Xi unemotionally but firmly stuck to substance and his talking points in taking Trump to the woodshed and stealing his lunch money. The entire visit was staged to show that China is an ascending power and that the U.S. is a declining power. So long world stage — Trump is now just another actor on display, no longer considered the world’s most important figure in the nation no longer considered the most formidable on earth. What happened in China not only demonstrated strength in their declaring that they are now a power to be reckoned with, but it also strengthened the perception throughout the world, for enemies and allies and friends, that Trump is no longer to be feared or taken seriously. Move along folks, nothing to see here. Or as I heard from my days living in Texas, Trump proved that he is “all hat and no cattle.”

It started when Xi warned Trump publicly not to fall into the “Thucydides Trap.” For those who may have slept through their western civilization courses in school, Thucydides was a Greek historian analyzing the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece. The theory is that when a rising power, in this case Athens, threatens a ruling power, here Sparta, it leads to war. The modern theory came from the Harvard professor Graham Allison who studied multiple historical examples and concluded that it is possible to avoid the “trap” through cooperation, communication and co-existence such as between the USSR and US during the cold war. Unfortunately, Trump seems naturally unable to cooperate, communicate or co-exist with anyone.

Xi was clearly telling Trump, publicly, that China was at least an equal power to the U.S. He was warning Trump that China was willing to fight for their future and would not be cowed by the United States. Where does it most immediately apply? With Taiwan. China claims that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, not an independent democratic state. China fully intends to integrate Taiwan into their country. (See what happened with Hong Kong.) The only issue is when and how. U.S. policy regarding Taiwan for decades, under Democrat and Republican administrations, has been one of strategic ambiguity. That means that we recognize a “One China Policy” whereby China includes Taiwan but we do not endorse China’s claim nor intend to facilitate their taking over the island. Indeed, we provide weapons to Taiwan in order for them to maintain their self-defense, we will not let China dictate those arms sales, we will not be an intermediary between China and Taiwan and we will continue to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty.

During Trump’s visit Xi explicitly, and again, importantly publicly, declared that the Thucydides Trap may be Taiwan if the U.S. did not allow China to take it over. Specifically Xi said, “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations. If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation.” In diplomatic speak he is telling Trump to buzz off and let them have their way with Taiwan. Amazingly, Trump briefed Xi on an impending 14 billion dollar arms sale to Taiwan and asked for his assessment (permission?) about going ahead with it. Trump said he considered the sale to be a “bargaining chip.” To make matters worse, on Fox News in response to questions about Taiwan he said, “We’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war? I’m not looking for that.” Taiwan is about 7,800 miles from Washington D.C. (Oh yeah. Tehran is about 6,400 miles.)

In sum, Trump treats democracies (Ukraine, Taiwan) like parasites to be ignored or given over to dictatorial states (Russia, China) whose leaders he considers to be his friends and bows to whatever directions they give him.

Meanwhile, the war of choice against Iran may or may not be over. Apparently Trump is bored with the whole thing and he must think that if he just ignores it, it will all go away. It is not. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed to most traffic. Trump asked Xi to help get the Strait open again and was politely rebuffed. Xi is not about to help out as they have their own special relationship with Iran. Besides, why help your opposition when they are slowly being degraded militarily and economically in a war that they started. He is not going to rescue us from our own mistake. Most economists clearly state that the worst economic impact of the war is yet to come — even if the war ended today. Like it or not, we are stuck in the Middle East, even as our Arab friends are looking around for someone other than the U.S. to ally themselves with as they slowly realize that Trump could care less about their future.

Iran? Taiwan? Economic hardship for Americans? Trump could care less. He even said so last week. On his way to depart for the China trip a reporter asked him about the plight of the average American consumer who is struggling due to the impact from the war in Iran. His response? “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situations, I don’t think about anybody.” What he does think about is his ballroom, arch and reflection pool. He is still seeking one billion taxpayer dollars for his ballroom and construction is continuing. He has hit a temporary setback as the Senate Parliamentarian ruled the current bill out of order for a simple majority vote. It will require sixty Senators to approve it. I do not expect that to impact Trump’s plans. The survey teams were out this week scoping and testing the soil at the site of Trump’s proposed arch, even as numerous groups work in court to stop it. Trump tried to attach its construction to already approved contracts for the White House itself, even though they are at least a mile apart and have no actual relation to each other. No law, rule or regulation is going to stand in his way. The two million dollar renovation of the reflection pool that went in a no bid contract to one of his friends has now burned through over thirteen million dollars of taxpayer money and is behind schedule. Of course it is.

This week we also discovered another of the many Trump schemes to enrich himself and to consolidate his power. Besides his wealth increasing by about five billion dollars since being elected in 2024 — I am sure there is no insider trading or conflicts of interest involved at all — you may recall that Trump, as president, is suing the IRS for ten billion taxpayer dollars. Apparently there are negotiations underway where Trump will forgo the ten billion for 1,776,000,000 taxpayer dollars. (Get it? Ha ha. I cannot make this stuff up.) The 1.7 billion will go to a “Truth and Justice Commission” to pay reparations to all of those who suffered from the “weaponization” of the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the Biden Administration. Besides the fact that only Congress can authorize and appropriate the use of taxpayer dollars, and the fact that Trump is once again negotiating with himself to see how much money he can walk away with, there are several other wildly disquieting issues surrounding this scheme. One is reportedly that in return for the new agreement, Trump, his family and all of his organizations, entities and enterprises can never ever again be audited by the IRS. I am sure that is totally on the up and up. But it gets worse.

Among those explicitly discussed as recipients of payouts are the roughly 1500 rebels that invaded the seat of government, mauled law enforcement officers and tried to overthrow an election and were convicted or pleaded guilty for their crimes. Trump pardoned them for doing his bidding and now he wants to pay them. Hold that thought. Under the proposal, there would be five Commissioners, four of whom would be appointed by the Attorney General, and Trump could dismiss any one of them or all of them without cause. All proceedings would be classified and not reviewable by any entity except Trump. The amounts and individuals or entities receiving payouts would not be disclosed. Trump himself would not be eligible for a payout, but his family and any Trump businesses or other organizations would be eligible. In other words, a Trump slush fund to use as he wants at taxpayer expense.

It is easy to see this as a viable way to raise a private army to wreak havoc before, during or after the upcoming elections. He did it once, but now he can promise them pardons and a payout for committing their crimes. Untouchable. None of us are stupid enough to think that no one would take up the offer. It is scary.

Tomorrow starts another week. Let us hope that Congress and the courts curtail or stop this reckless abuse of presidential power. Countries around the world have come to see Trump for who he really is and have stopped being impressed by his bullying and false bravado. There is no substance there and they are moving on. Let us hope that our fellow citizens realize the same things.

The Grifter-In-Chief: A Sampling

Posted: May 10, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The official poster unveiled in the Oval Office on 11 April 2026 announcing the UFC Freedom 250, an upcoming mixed martial arts event from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It is scheduled to take place on June 14, 2026, (Trump’s birthday) on the South Lawn of the White House in “honor” of our country’s 250th celebration of the Declaration of Independence. There will be 5,000 seats on the White House grounds of which most will allegedly go to members of the military. There will also be “High Roller VIP” tickets for the grounds that can be had for a bribe of 1.5 million dollars. The plans include space for 80,000 more spectators to watch the fights on big screens on the Ellipse. Nothing says “America!” like a cage fight in the eight sided fenced enclosure known as the Octagon.

True to his reputation as the Grifter-in-Chief, Trump is putting his name on sesquicentennial celebrations and commemorative souvenirs meant to celebrate our nation’s historic celebration. However, it only goes along with all of the other attempts he made or is working on to leave his brand on much of the federal government. If you consider yourself an Emperor, then you deserve to have great monuments built in your honor. It doesn’t matter if you have what some might describe as grotesque taste — certainly tacky comes up short — because you are the knower of all things. For those that may have not been keeping track, here in no particular order, are some of the things Trump has “branded” without our consent, and usually using taxpayer dollars.

  • Passports. The State Department will begin issuing passports with Trump’s face filling the inside page and sporting his signature in gold. Alas, it will only be available to those renewing their passports in person in Washington D.C.
  • National Park Passes. George Washington now shares his image with a picture of Trump on The National Park Service’s annual America the Beautiful park pass. The Park Service had to amend its rules to prohibit the many pass holders from “defacing” the cards by putting wildlife pictures, smiley faces or other types of additions to cover Trump’s face.
  • Commemorative Coins. A 24-karat coin featuring Trump was approved by the Department of the Treasury and will celebrate our 250th birthday. I suppose it is because he was so instrumental in the founding of our country.
  • U.S. Currency. Trump’s signature will appear on paper currency, as announced by the Department of the Treasury to honor the “historic achievements” he has made. It will be the first time in American history that a sitting president’s name appears on actual money. There are also plans for a Trump one dollar coin to be minted with his face on it.
  • Giant Portraits. There are multi-story sized banners on multiple U.S. federal buildings featuring Trump including the Department of Labor, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice.
  • Renamed Buildings. Trump added his name to the Kennedy Center (his comes first, of course) and put his name (first) on the Institute of Peace. The Palm Beach International Airport is renamed for Trump, with his companies having exclusive control over many aspects of the commercial enterprises there, copyrighted use of his initials, and exclusive merchandising rights for airport items sold outside the terminal.
  • Immigration. Trump Gold Cards, Trump Corporate Gold Cards and Trump Platinum Cards are available to wealthy individuals and organizations that allows them privileges in the U.S. not available to other immigrants if they pay a bribe large fee to attain them.
  • Trump Class Battleships. This spring Trump announced a new class of ships for the U.S. Navy that will be named for Trump. The cost for one ship is estimated at 17 billion dollars. Rumors indicate that the recently fired Secretary of the Navy was let go because the program was moving too slowly for Trump’s liking. (I seriously doubt this particular ship will ever be built.)
  • Prescription Drugs. TrumpRx is a new website meant to help lower the cost of prescription drugs. Drugs are not directly sold on the website but rather directly from the supplier. Insurance cannot be used to buy them.
  • Investment Accounts. Beginning on 4 July, 2026 newborns can receive one thousand dollars from the U.S. Treasury to invest. The investments are known as Trump Accounts and parents can match the deposit up to five thousand dollars per year. The newborn must be a U.S. citizen and the program ends on 31 December, 2028. Some experts worry this is the beginning of privatizing Social Security.
  • East Potomac Golf Course. The busiest and most affordable public golf course in the District of Columbia is being taken over by Trump to make it “a world class course.” What this means to the average citizen is still unclear. It is the most popular course in the District for the public. The National Links Trust — a non-profit — signed a fifty year lease to run the park in 2020. Trump cancelled it. Currently, 37,000 cubic yards of toxic waste from the destruction of the East Wing is being dumped on the grounds in piles that golfers must navigate around.
  • The Garden of Heroes. Trump intends to take over significant areas of public parks along the District waterfront to build his park that will contain 250 statues of great Americans. This will mean taking over areas traditionally used by families and communities for recreation, picnics and other normal uses for a park such as pickup soccer games.
  • The Arc de Trump. The proposed 250 foot high triumphal arch would be built at the end of the Memorial Bridge and block the view between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. It was to be completed in time for the 250th celebration but construction is now uncertain.
  • Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool. Trump issued a no-bid contract to his golf course “pool guys” to refurbish the reflecting pool between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials. He says it cost about two million dollars but numerous reports indicate it may be as high as 6.9 million dollars. He had it painted “American Flag Blue” so that now it looks like a giant swimming pool. Oh. Yeah. He drove his motorcade through the pool. Not to it. Not around it. Through it. To “inspect.” His limousine — the Beast — alone weighs 8-10 tons. He had a full motorcade. One wonders what all that weight did to the joints between slabs that were just repaired.
  • Air Force One. The Qatari luxury 747 given to Trump — apparently not to the U.S. — to use as his new Air Force One has been upgraded to meet security standards at a cost of 400 million dollars. Trump plans to keep it after he leaves the presidency.

Now for the pink elephant sucking all of the oxygen out of the room — Trump’s desecration of the People’s House which he thinks he owns. His “maximalist” style of decorating means gold trim all over the inside and outside of the White House. Everywhere. It was not enough to destroy the Rose Garden (the area is now called the “Rose Garden Club”) and making it look like a patio at most nice motels. He has put up gold graphics to name rooms and the doors are now decorated with medallions depicting his face. The dignified Oval Office looks like a gussied up New Orleans brothel (with no intent to insult New Orleans or brothels). He has placed life sized statues around the White House grounds, perhaps a preview of his Garden of Heroes. He created a “Presidential Walk of Fame” with biographies that praise his favorite presidents and denigrates and defames those he does not like.

Of course we need to talk about the ballroom designated to take the place of the already demolished East Wing. Originally it would cost 200 million dollars all paid for by “donors.” Then it went to 400 million dollars with no taxpayer money needed. Now Congress is preparing a bill that will allocate one BILLION dollars for the ballroom. Possibly in addition to the previously mentioned 400 million. They try to justify it based on national security claiming it will be a secure space for all presidents into the future to use without concern. One might ask why, if Trump is that worried about his safety that he has to have a fort separating himself from the public, does he go outside to play golf at one of his resorts nearly every weekend? (At taxpayer expense.) This may be the biggest boondoggle in the history of these United States. It is clearly meant to be monument to himself that will make future generations think that he was one great man. His actual legacy is in danger so he must create his own. At our expense. One billion dollars. But no money for starving kids, healthcare, helping the needy or making sure our schools are the best.

If you need any further proof of what he thinks of himself, take a look at this.

The 22 foot tall statue of Trump at his golf course in Florida. He claims via Truth Social that it is “The Real Deal — GOLD — At Doral In Miami” when in fact it is bronze with a gold coating. Last week a group of evangelical pastors blessed it and dedicated it. There is another such statue at Mar-A-Lago. (Photo: Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

Can I get an Amen?

A War Without Leaders, Only Zealots

Posted: April 5, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One of the pictures released by the government of Iran showing the remains of U.S. aircraft destroyed on the ground during rescue operations to recover a second crewmember from a USAF F-15E shot down by Iranian forces on Friday. A massive operation successfully recovered the missing crew member but the recovery force had to destroy two specialized C-130 aircraft and at least two Black Hawk helicopters on the ground. Thankfully, all participants reportedly were recovered without casualties.

This morning we received the following Easter greeting from the President of the United States who believes, as do others in our country, that he was chosen by God to lead our country and who some Evangelical pastors compare to Jesus Christ. (I apologize for the language, but I see no reason to clean up Trump’s preferred presidential language.)

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J TRUMP.”

This is not a joke or a hoax. These are the deranged postings of a sick man on his way to play golf at one of his courses in Northern Virginia. You know, the traditional way many Christians celebrate the holiest day of the liturgical year. It came on the heels of the previous day’s post.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J TRUMP”

If you ever thought that Iran might cave, those social media posts nearly guarantee that Iran will never give in and will work as hard as possible to make life hell for us, Israel and the Gulf states. Trump thinks he can bully anyone. To me, he sounds desperate. He is in over his head and does not know how to get out. Please note that the Iranians have yet to deploy one of their most deadly weapons — terrorist sleeper cells.

Oh, by the way, what he is threatening to do is, by the standards of international law, a war crime. But then he has been threatening Iran with promises to commit war crimes for quite some time now. His Secretary of Defense has also been promising that our troops will commit war crimes when he pledged at one of his “tough guy” press speeches on 15 March that there will be “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.” Since our Civil War, our military has been taught that “no quarter” which means there will be no prisoners, everyone is to be massacred, is a war crime. It is also enshrined in the Hague and Geneva conventions. The U.S. Pentagon’s own war manual clearly states that it is a war crime. But then this is the same guy that vowed on 2 March that there would be “no stupid rules of engagement” and “no politically correct wars.” I do not know who is copying who with their blasphemous invocations of God and Jesus Christ, but at a recent prayer service in the Pentagon, Hegseth invoked both in his lust for killing. He is on record as saying that our troops need to continue dispensing death and violence in God’s name. It is a religious duty, according to his sick reasoning, in order to “save” western civilization, a belief he shares with many in Trump’s orbit. (Project 2025 anyone?) He actually pronounced a prayer that said in part, “let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our nation” and produce “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” In their own words, both Trump and Hegseth think that they are on some kind of Crusade against Islam. Shoot, Hegseth even has tattoos all over his body referencing the Crusades. To name a few, his arm has a tattoo reading “Deus Vult” which is Latin for “God will it” and is linked to the First Crusade as a battle cry. On his chest he has a large Jerusalem Cross, also a link to the Crusades and a popular symbol for today’s white Christian nationalists. Another tattoo on his arm is a cross with a sword referencing the New Testament verse Mathew 10:34 which reads “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword!” I have no problem with anyone’s private beliefs. I have a huge problem when our Secretary of Defense is trying to turn our military into an arm of his and Trump’s efforts to create a white Christian nationalist country of which they are in charge. An exaggeration? I think not when you look at the record. Hegseth has fired over twenty senior Admirals and Generals in order to put in place officers more “loyal” to Trump and Hegseth. Not to the Constitution. To them. Most recently it was the Chief of Staff of the Army. In the middle of a war. Rumor has it that he was fired because he argued against putting U.S. troops into Iran. Hegseth has tampered with the promotion process destroying an apolitical system based on merit and instead is promoting people ideologically and politically aligned with his beliefs. Most recently he pulled four officers off of the Army’s promotion list to Brigadier General (a one star rank) — something previously unheard of by a Secretary of Defense. Two of the officers were black and two were women.

Just as an aside, if one ever wanted to make sure that no one in the Middle East will give you the time of day, start talking about Crusades against Islam. It is the one thing that will unite Arabs and Persians.

I was out of the country for most of March which gave me a chance to reflect on events in our country and to look at things through the eyes of our (former) allies and friends. It scares me deeply. I have been of the opinion that we could recover from the rampaging MAGA crowd that are out to destroy everything that traditionally makes us Americans. Now I am not so sure. When I think about the fact that this guy is the person that the plurality of Americans wanted as their president despite all that he has done, I know that there are no limits to his depravity and willingness to do anything to stay in power. Trump is a convicted felon and an adjudicated sexual predator that is on tape saying that he can abuse women because “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…” This is the same guy that worked for months to overturn a free and fair election and when he failed, he unleashed a mob that attacked our seat of government and that was hell bent on killing the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. Why would anyone think that he would stop at anything, repeat, anything to get what he wants? Obviously I am not a physician, but anyone with half a brain can watch him speak and realize that he is ill — both physically and mentally. How desperate will he be to cement his legacy as the first autocrat to rule America and change our way of life? He is already busy slapping his name on anything around the District of Columbia that he can find and is planning to build monuments to himself all around the city. I am sure he knows more about the details of his proposed ballroom than he knows about the details of the war that he started. Meanwhile, his Cabinet, advisers and Republican (?) members of Congress let him do whatever pops into his sick mind.

Trump is only interested in his personal aggrandizement and wealth. Not in actually governing. Here are two examples of what he is doing with your tax dollars. The Department of State recently cut multiple programs to raise 1.2 billion dollars for Trump’s Board of Peace. All current members ante up one billion dollars each to join. Allegedly, the Board is formed to oversee the restoration of the Gaza Strip but let’s cut to the chase. The Chairman is Trump. For Life. Yes. The Chairman can override any vote of the rest of the Board. The Chairman controls the funds, exclusively. The Chairman decides who can or cannot be on the Board. Can you say slush fund?

Or how about this gambit? Trump is suing his Department of Justice for ten billion dollars. Ten billion of your tax dollars. He claims irreparable harm from the release of his tax returns by a contractor and from the lawful investigation into his theft of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago. Gee. Let’s think about who controls the Department. As Trump said, “But isn’t that a strange position to be in? I’ve gotta make a deal. I negotiate with myself.” He might as well. Our paper money is now going to be signed by him rather than the Treasurer of the United States. Another “historic” moment (it’s never happened in our history) and a sure sign of an entrenched autocrat.

Everything that is happening in the war with Iran was predictable. Indeed, even I predicted it in this space on 25 February before the war began. Trump and Hegseth either ignored the warnings from their experts or were bound and determined to attack regardless. Now the world is in a mess and no one trusts us at all. Not our friends, not our Allies, not our enemies. No one is likely to trust us for a generation, if then. One “Trump” can be explained away. Two “Trumps” and the rest of the world has to understand that another “Trump” could come along at any time. Our country asked for this and from the rest of the world’s view point, there is nothing to stop it from happening again. I will also point out, that we still have not heard Trump or anyone in his cabinet articulate the strategic objectives for our assault on Iran. Mostly they talk in tactical terms (all Hegseth knows how to do) and even then, they change everything based on which way the wind is blowing. There is a huge leadership void at the top of the government. Very dangerous.

Life is hard but it is harder when you’re stupid. Unfortunately, their stupidity is leading to the needless deaths of thousands of civilians. And now they are advocating for war crimes against civilians by attacking infrastructure that has no real military value. Our military men and women deserve better.

Amateur Hour Continues

Posted: March 7, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Persian Gulf. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

No one knows when the war in the Middle East will end. Government leaders continue to give multiple and often contradictory reasons for the attack and the strategic conditions that will end it. One thing is certain, we have a Commander-in-Chief that is unleashed, impulsive, and clueless. In his usual way of setting policy, and expecting it to be taken seriously, Trump set the terms of ending the war via Truth Social. In part he posted, “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” As if they needed more incentive, the Iranians will now fight to the bitter end. There will be no unconditional surrender unless Trump plans to literally kill nearly everyone in the country. As I have stated often in these spaces, wars only end when the loser chooses to end them. No matter how bad things are, they will continue to fight until the attacker goes home or there is a negotiated settlement. There have been no wars settled by unconditional surrender since World War II. As if setting policy via social media was not enough, Trump shows us just how unserious he is by also including in his post “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).” Because, of course.

Ever the clever one, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s spokesperson, when asked about what unconditional surrender means said, “When he as Commander-in-Chief determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the U.S. and the goals of Operation Epic Fury have been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender whether they say it or not.” Please see the above paragraph. There will be no unconditional surrender, Trump will just say it and go home claiming victory. Consequences be damned because the Iranians will not accept that as a permanent outcome. When asked by Time magazine reporters whether we should worry about retaliatory terror attacks on our homeland Trump replied, “I guess.” He went on to say “We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.” Well, that’s good to know.

Trump also claims that he will pick the next leader of Iran. Hubris or ignorance, you decide. Whichever you choose, he is of course fooling himself and trying to hoodwink us, the citizens of the United States in to believing that he somehow is the Master of the Universe. Let us remember that not only did Trump take out the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also the spiritual leader for all Shi’ites. Saying that he will pick the next leader is akin to declaring that he will pick the next Pope. There are about 240 million Shia Muslims in the world (the largest sect with about 90% of all Muslims are the Sunni). The largest concentrations of Shi’ites are in Iran (about 68 million people), Iraq and Azerbaijan. There are also significant numbers of Shi’ites in Lebanon, Yemen and Afghanistan. To add to the equation, their leader was killed during Ramadan which takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a holy month, and is believed to be the month where the Quran was revealed to the prophet Mohammed. None of them are going to let Trump pick the next leader.

The Washington Post reports that Russia is supplying targeting intelligence to Iran giving them the location of naval vessels, aircraft and other high value assets. The Secretary of the Treasury just announced that in order to keep the flow of oil going to Asia (the main buyers of oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz) the U.S. is issuing a temporary waiver for refiners, mainly in India, to buy Russian oil, which has been embargoed since Russia invaded Ukraine. So, let’s see, the longer the Strait remains closed, the more oil Putin can sell and thus save his nearly collapsed economy. And buy weapons to use against Ukraine. Are we sure Vlad doesn’t have something on his good friend Donnie? Nothing like acting in Putin’s interests to keep the war going while he makes money and helps to target Americans.

Meanwhile the disgraceful buffoon that calls himself the Secretary of Defense continues to strut and dance around while he brags about killing people. On a preview of an upcoming 60 Minutes interview he is asked about Russian involvement and said “we aren’t concerned about that.” He went on to say “the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.” Asked a similar question yesterday by a Fox News reporter Trump responded “What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time.” Such articulate and deep strategic thinkers. Recall that at a press conference this week the Secretary was asked about the American soldiers that were killed. He took the opportunity to berate the media for only reporting on the bad news in order to make Trump look bad. Because, of course, everything has to be about Trump.

One only has to know what the Secretary and the Trump administration think about the war right now is to look at what they are posting on social media. Most of their posts are memes splicing together scenes from video games, war movies and actual combat footage. Here is one example as reported in the Washington Post. “On Thursday, the White House also posted a video overlaying airstrike footage with the lyrics “Kaboom, kablow” from the viral rap song “Bazooka,” and another mixing clips of missile detonations with SpongeBob SquarePants. On Friday, the White House published another video referencing “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” flashing the message “WASTED” — what the game’s players see when they die — atop missile footage showing trucks and people engulfed in flames.”

These are the people speaking for our nation. A school in Iran was bombed and killed dozens of elementary school girls and six Americans were killed in combat and our leaders think it is all a funny game.

Our military professionals are doing their job and doing it well. We pray that they are safe. Our government leaders are not only ignorant about the Middle East and amateurish in the formulation of strategy, but they also care little to nothing about our military men and women or the citizens of these United States.

Democracy In Shambles

Posted: October 21, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo from Getty Images showing the demolition of the East Wing of the White House.

Donald J. Trump — convicted felon, adjudicated sex offender and world class liar — symbolically showed us what he thinks of we, the people, of the United States. The demolition of the White House has begun so that he can build a monument to himself. Back in July, Trump said about the construction of a new ballroom that the White House itself would not be changed because the ballroom will “be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.” Yet another lie. The addition was never approved by the National Capital Planning Commission which approves changes to federal buildings, construction and the National Mall. The chairman happens to be Will Scharf who also happens to be the White House Staff Secretary and a close adviser to the president. The ballroom will be 90,000 square feet, which will dwarf the existing White House which totals only about 50,000 square feet. This is on the heels of destroying the Rose Garden so that he could put in a Mar-a-Lago style patio which he calls the “Rose Garden Club.” Somehow, I don’t think I can afford to join that club.

However, if that is not enough to show his disdain for the “The People’s House” — he seems to forget that he is merely a tenant, not the owner — check out his AI generated meme reacting to the “No Kings” rallies held in about 2,500 cities and towns with an estimated attendance of over seven million citizens of all ages, social backgrounds, religions, representing the diversity of our great nation.

This is an outtake of the video (and yes the oxygen mask is supposed to go over one’s nose as well as mouth) so as to not have to insult you with the moronic, unamusing, disrespectful, scatalogical contents of the meme. Let’s just say the aircraft has a payload that he drops on a major city and shows inhabitants of that city getting covered in poo. Apparently we have a president with the sensibilities of a ten year old.

The president. Of the United States. Don’t you feel proud?

Taken together, it shows his total disregard for our country. He is happy to spend his time sending out social media posts rather than working on re-opening the government. You know, to actually govern. His puppet-filling-space as the Speaker of the House still refuses to even talk to a Democrat about finding a solution to help the American people. Thanks to his leadership, the members of the House of Representatives have only worked 20 days since the Fourth of July. That’s quite the extended paid vacation. Yes, even though hard working TSA agents and others are working with no payday in sight, the members of the House and Senate still get paid during the shutdown. Apparently, the contents of the Epstein files must be so bad, that the president and his MAGA crowd would rather have hard working people go broke than re-open the government and risk a vote on releasing the files.

Trump pardoned nearly 2,000 rioters that attacked our national legislature with the purpose of keeping him in power while seriously injuring 140 law enforcement officers and yet he claims the mantle of being a law and order president. Therefore, it is imperative that he federalize the National Guard to go after old people in lawn chairs and folks in frog blow up costumes because they are a real threat to America.

On a positive note I met many new, kind, helpful and joyous people while attending a peaceful “No Kings Rally” in a small town that is the county seat for a heavily red, pro-Trump county in our state. It was refreshing and a quiet boost and underlined that the majority of Americans — regardless of past political associations — have tired of the antics of this administration. The Trump regime knows that it is deeply unpopular which is why they continue to lash out. They have a losing agenda. We need to turn the outpouring from over the weekend into actual political action. We have a way to go, but I cannot remember a feeling so widespread in our country that serves to unite us to protect our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

You Might Be A Terrorist In Trump’s America

Posted: October 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

And all I ever hear about is Aunt Tifa. The president, the people in Congress, all the Republicans are constantly talking about Aunt Tifa. What has she done? Why is she always in the news? I don’t get it.

The word is Antifa.

Oh. Never mind.

— With apologies to Gilda Radner as the character Emily Litella on Saturday Night Live

The late Gilda Radner was one of the best actors on the original Saturday Night Live (SNL). She captured her characters brilliantly and always made me laugh. Unfortunately, the current administration’s fixation on Antifa is no laughing matter. Antifa is short for anti-fascist. In the broadest strokes, anyone that opposes fascism is a part of Antifa. It has no organizational structure, no organized funding, no designated leaders or a chain of command. It is more of an idea. There are people who simply do not want to see authoritarianism replace our Republic. Yet, Trump and his administration and MAGA followers in Congress have come to use the phrase as a substitute for anyone that disagrees with Trump’s policies and actions. They equate it to domestic terrorism. They must be really afraid of the people that elected them.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence, signed by Trump on 25 September 2025, provides the cover for the federal government to investigate, surveil, or apprehend anyone that they deem as being “Antifa” — or in other words, anyone against Trump’s view of the country’s future.

Citing the murder of Charlie Kirk and other violent acts against MAGA supporters — but not the murders of Democrat politicians or supporters — the president directs that a Joint Terrorist Task Force (JTTF) be formed, bringing in elements from all of the relevant federal agencies, in order to stop political violence as he defines it. Trump thinks, or at least asserts, that there is an organized effort to oppose him through violence. As the NSPM says:

“This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.  Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.  A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required.“

Under the terms of NSPM-7, which directly mentions Antifa, the definition of “terroristic activities” is described as the following:

“This “anti-fascist” lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties.  Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.“

Apparently, dissent is no longer protected by the First Amendment. Under the guidelines, any individual, journalist, non-government organization (NGO) or any entity that opposes the MAGA and Project 2025 agenda is Antifa and therefore a suspected terrorist. Dissent is now considered an indicator of pre-terrorist behavior and you could be subject to surveillance or even arrested. Welcome to the America of Trump’s dreams.

Words have meaning and impact which is why they constantly talk about Democrats as the “radical left,” “terrorists,” “the enemy within,” “Marxist, communists and fascists,” and so on. Dehumanize opponents and harden the citizenry until they are numb to his hateful rhetoric. Then bring in the troops to remove all of your perceived enemies. Straight from the Autocrat 101 text book.

No Kings Day is on Saturday 18 October. Back in June, millions of Americans in small towns and big cities came out to peacefully demonstrate their opposition to the Trump regime. The same thing is expected this week. But if you listen to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson it is as an attempt to keep the government shut down (more on the shutdown later). Here are his unhinged views of the gatherings as expressed on Fox News last week:

“We’re so angry about it. I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people. They’re playing games with real people’s lives. The theory we have right now: They have a ‘Hate America’ rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and the antifa people, they’re all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally, ’cuz they can’t face their rabid base. This is serious business hurting real people.… I’m beyond words.” 

There are other even more vicious lies about the peaceful rally from administration and MAGA members of Congress. They must really fear the majority of Americans who disapprove of the MAGA, MAHA and Trump policies and actions (I am never sure that Trump actually has policies. He just does whatever pops into his mind at the time. He recently declared that Joe Biden was the president on 6 January 2021. Is that a big lie or his biggest lie? Or is he simply delusional?)

It is interesting to me that they oppose peaceful national rallies against the United States having a king and demanding due process under the law, respect for our fellow citizens, and opposing authoritarianism. As I recall from grade school, this nation was founded on the desire to no longer bend a knee to a king. And while I am at it, what is wrong with Antifa as a concept? There were anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1930s. Indeed, we fought an entire world war that was anti-fascist.

Meanwhile the government shutdown continues. There are no plans to bring the House back from a prolonged vacation and no plan to work with Democrats to solve the health care issues. Only stone walling and whining about the Democrats as the enemy. Apparently Speaker Johnson fears the completion of a “Discharge Petition.” Without getting too far down into the rules of the House of Representatives, this is a path for a Representative to bring legislation to the floor without having to go through “regular order” and without the approval of the Speaker and other leaders in the House. It takes a majority of Representatives to literally sign their name to the petition and very rarely succeeds. In this session, that means 218 Representatives need to sign. They have 217 including both Democrats and Republicans. The 218th vote is waiting in the wings. Representative Adelita Grijalva (D- AZ) was elected in a special election weeks ago, but the Speaker claims that because the government is shut down, he cannot swear her into her new job. The petition is to bring legislation to the House floor to vote on releasing the Epstein files. Trump and the MAGA leadership desperately do not want that to happen. (One might wonder why if they are not covering something up?) Thus he will not swear her in. It is unclear how long this can go on, but having the government shut is a convenient excuse. Not to mention that the longer it is closed, the more that Trump and his Project 2025 henchmen Russel Vought and Stephen Miller can expand their power and take ever more extreme actions.

They are trying to press their agenda regardless of its unpopularity. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Stay peaceful. They are trying to scare anyone that opposes them. They do not understand peaceful protest. They want to rule by fear — physical threats, threats to people’s livelihoods, threats to their families.

I hope to see you on Saturday.

The Threat To Our Military

Posted: September 5, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Last Tuesday, video was released showing an attack by a U.S. military asset on a small boat reportedly sunk with the loss of all onboard. The location of the attack was not disclosed, but it was claimed that the boat was in international waters after leaving the mainland of Venezuela. Facts surrounding the incident are scarce. There are assertions from the President Bone Spurs Administration that it was an identified narco-terrorist boat filled with illegal drugs headed “eventually” to the U.S. In my career as on officer in the U.S. Navy, I participated in numerous drug operations in the Caribbean Sea.

For decades, the U.S. Navy (USN) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have conducted anti-drug operations. They have always been considered law enforcement actions. The USN ships participating would carry USCG detachments onboard because the U.S. military does not do law enforcement. The USCG is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and does have law enforcement capability and authorization. I have seen a lot of boats similar to the one sunk on Tuesday during my days on these operations. Some were carrying drugs. Some were legitimate fishermen. I did not see any, but others are known to carry undocumented migrants trying to sneak into the U.S. Some are innocent civilians traveling about the Caribbean Sea. How do we know that the administration is legitimate in its claims that these were narco-terrorists without positive identification? Normally, the USN ship would stop the vessel — most stopped when asked, or if not, they did when we trained guns on them, but if they did not, accurate gunfire would disable their engines — and the heavily armed USCG detachment would go onboard and search the vessel. If drugs were found, the crew was arrested, the cargo seized and the boat taken over by U.S. military personnel or towed to port. Not every boat we stopped and searched was a drug runner. Most were innocent people undertaking innocent business of their own. It worked.

Unless you ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While in Mexico he said “the United States has long, for many, many years, established intelligence that allow us to interdict and stop drug boats. We did that. And it doesn’t work.”  He went on to say “what will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them.” Therefore, “instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up. And it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now.”  Maybe they killed innocent civilians without regard to international law. This is a frightening development if we really delve into it. It contradicts precedent, American values and the law. A secret document signed by the president does not change the law. If a criminal act is discovered, it is handled by law enforcement officials. Not the military. For this administration the words “national security” and “emergency” seem to be thought of as some kind of magic words that allow them to do whatever they want, be it tariffs, immigration, health care or the use of our military in domestic circumstances.

Trump likes to act like the tough guy but really he is quite weak. Just ask XI, Putin and Kim. Whether you believe him to be strong or weak does not matter, he is still expected to follow the law. Trump is consistently creeping ever closer to using the military for his own personal purposes. Under international law he cannot order a bombing attack on a non-threatening vessel in international waters just because he wants to look tough.

Do I sympathize with drug runners or want to see them succeed as Trump and his minions claim of anyone that questions their unlawful actions? No. Of course not. I do, however, believe in the rule of law and the president cannot just make it up as he goes along. Indiscriminately killing people in international waters does not enhance our liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C — 1385) from 1878 bans the use of the military for law enforcement “except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.” So far, none of his actions with active duty forces or the National Guard meet those criteria. While it is a little more complicated for the National Guard — depending on whether they have been nationalized as federal forces by the president or whether they are under the control of the state’s governor — the way that they have been used is not legal. Do not take my word for it, take the word of federal District Judge Charles Breyer who recently ruled that the Trump Administration’s federalization of the National Guard and the use of U.S. Marines in Los Angeles to assist ICE and other federal agencies in arresting undocumented immigrants violated the Act in multiple ways. His decision carefully debunks the three main arguments that the Trump attorneys asserted was within presidential power. Each of their three assertions basically say that the president cannot be held criminally liable because only the Executive Branch can prosecute violations through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the president controls DOJ therefore the president can act in his own best interests.

I have oversimplified what is considered an elegant and air tight decision, but given that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) said that presidents are immune from prosecution when acting in an official capacity, none of us should rest easy. If the SCOTUS overrules the lower courts, Katie bar the door. It is open season on all of us.

The military has a proud tradition of pledging loyalty to the Constitution and not to any individual, including the president acting as Commander-in-Chief. They are bound to obey lawful orders from their superiors, but Trump is coming right up to the line. We will see if he crosses over.

There is no one in his administration that will pull him back. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is incompetent. He only does what he is told. And now he and the president want to rename the Department of Defense (DOD) the Department of War. There is a long history behind it — the Department of War was the Army until post World War II reforms. It and the Department of the Navy were cabinet positions, there was no Air Force. The National Security act of 1947 realigned the Defense Establishment. An act of Congress in 1949 created the title Department of Defense. They want to rename it because that is what it was during World Wars I and II. Ahhh. The good ol’ days. It would take an act of Congress to officially change it, but like everything else, Trump plans to issue an Executive Order (E.O.) allowing the use of the name, even if he is not officially changing it. In other words, a rebranding effort.

We have already seen that Trump will do whatever he wants. I think we are only beginning to understand how lawless his behavior already is and how much further he is ready, willing and able to go if he wants it. Remember that he fired the leaders of the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and multiple other senior officers including the Judge Advocate General (JAG) in each of the services. Recently, Hegseth reassigned six hundred (!) other military lawyers to assist DOJ as immigration judges. (Recall that this administration fired or forced into early retirement over 100 immigration judges when they took over.) Who is left to advise leaders as to the legality of the military decisions that are being made?

Already our due process rights are in danger as masked, unidentified men are disappearing people off the streets of our country as I type. They are sent on their way to who knows where. What should we expect if the president can indiscriminately use the military for law enforcement purposes? Why not drone strikes inside the U.S.? Why not use the military to take care of criminal gangs? When that happens we are finished as a democracy. Stick a fork in it, we’re done.

In 2020 there was a draft E.O. ordering the military to seize all voting machines. Ultimately Trump backed down and did not sign it — mainly because senior military and civilian leaders told him it was illegal. Now there is no one in place that would stop him. It may happen in the future because he already says results from voting machines are not valid. What if he declares voting machines to be counter to U.S. national security interests because he thinks that they can be manipulated by foreign powers? (They cannot be manipulated.) Does he execute his E.O. and have the military seize the machines or does he just declare the results invalid?

I fear for our men and women in uniform and the pressure that will increasingly come their way in Trump’s endless pursuit of his own interests. Where are the senior uniformed military leaders? Are they okay with this? Afraid of being fired? If so, I am ashamed for them.

Corruption Reigns Supreme

Posted: May 22, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

As Trump continues to consolidate his reign as king, corruption in every sense of the word is spreading through his administration and it is damaging our country and making us less safe.

The examples are numerous, but this example explains what I mean by making us less safe. Last week, two of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the intelligence community were fired by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard. Her actions explain both why we are less safe and why she got the job despite being woefully unqualified for the position. The combined U.S. intelligence community (IC) consists of eighteen agencies and organizations across the government (FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, etc.) that support their individual communities but also provide collection and analysis that is aggregated into national assessments that inform the president and other top officials in making their decisions. In February, the IC produced an assessment concluding that the government of Venezuela was not controlling the gang known as Tren de Arugua (TdA) to attack the United States with an “invasion” of gang members to destroy our country. Remember that the Trump administration based their rendition of individuals to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador on the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, a war time provision used only three times in our history. The claimed invasion by Venezuela through TdA is the legal basis for the administration’s actions. No invasion, no legal basis. Top officials in the ODNI were directed to redo the assessment to support Trump’s unfounded claims. The IC took another look and provided more information, but repeated their conclusion that TdA was not invading the U.S. at the direction of the Venezuelan government. The top two officials responsible for the final product were fired because they would not cook the books to make Trump look good. This is not just bordering on dangerous, it is a huge klaxon horn of an alarm that no one is safe. How can we expect our security agencies to protect us if the senior officials in our government will only accept assessments and recommendations that fit their preconceived outcomes? Just like the witch in The Wiz proclaims, the directive from above is “don’t you bring me no bad news!” If you do, you are fired. Scores of senior, experienced people through out our national security community are resigning or being fired because they refuse to lie.

The president’s financial corruption is staggering. The Trump family is estimated to have received close to three billion dollars since taking office. I have written in this space before about their crypto coins and meme coins which bring them millions in “handling costs” whether the coins go up or down in value. The peak (depth?) of the corruption knows no bounds. Tonight, the top 220 investors in Trump’s meme coin ($TRUMP coins to be exact) will dine with the president at his club in northern Virginia. They bought about $148 million worth of coins in the contest and over half of the purchasers are from outside the United States. The top 25 “investors” spent about $111 million and will receive a special VIP reception with Trump and each will get a Trump Tourbillon priced at $100,000. The top donor is the China born Justin Sun who spent $18.5 million. He was seen in the Executive Office Building next to the White House today. Oh, yeah. He is also the top investor in the Trump family’s crypto platform World Liberty Financial. Coincidentally, the Security and Exchange Commission paused its investigation into Mr. Sun’s fraud case and is expected to drop it entirely. Just another day in the life of a mob boss.

One more example, if I may, of the extraordinary grift underway by Trump. (One wonders how he has time to run the government and protect our nation since he spends so much time lining his pockets. Oh. Wait. He puts his financial interests ahead of national security. If you doubt it, take a look at his recent trip to the Middle East. Coincidentally, his sons were recently there making billions of dollars in family “deals” — not national deals — with each of the countries that Trump visited.)

By now you no doubt have heard about the Qatar government’s “gift” to Trump of a luxurious 747 airliner to use as Air Force One. (Technically, any airplane of any make or size is Air Force One if the president is on board. It is a call sign used for communicating with air controllers. The Marine helicopter used by the president has a call sign of Marine One.) The New York Times reports that originally, the Qataris were going to sell it to the United States. They had been trying since 2020 to get rid of it because of its cost and limited utility to the Emir. The Air Force has two Boeing 747s on order to replace the existing presidential aircraft. However, they are way behind in the production schedule and may not be available until 2028 when, supposedly, Trump will leave office. He wants something now to keep him ensconced in luxury like an Emir or king — a level he fully expects to receive. (” We’re the United States of America. I believe we should have the most impressive plane.”) The plane was flown to Florida in February and when Trump toured it, he was immediately and fully all in to have it. How it became a $400 million “gift” is unclear. But this week, the Air Force took possession (it has been in San Antonio for weeks already) on behalf of the “American people.” Right. Especially since Trump claims it will go to his presidential library when he leaves office. There are many safety and security issues to be resolved before it can be used. Some experts think it may take years and close to a billion dollars to get it ready — essentially dismantling the aircraft and rebuilding it to military specifications. If nothing else, one must assume that it is riddled with listening and other intelligence collection devices installed by the Qataris and/or other intelligence agencies. Unless, of course, the commander-in-chief over rides the national security and safety experts and uses it regardless of any concerns. As is clear, national security is the least of his worries as long as he is getting rich and being treated like a king. The Constitution? What about it? Just because Article I, section 9 of the Constitution says “No title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” doesn’t mean it applies to Trump. Besides, the Attorney General of the United States said it was legal. She should know because her lobbying firm earned $115,000 a month from the Qatari government.

There is more, but you get the drift, or should I say, grift. Trump thinks he is a king, wants to act like a king, and thinks he should be treated like a king. Personal financial gain outweighs any concern for national security. Congress is a natural barrier to our president taking on the trappings of a monarch but the MAGA faithful fall into line when ordered. Look no further than the House of Representatives passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Yes. That is the actual name of the bill. In sum, it is loaded with off the wall provisions and paves the way to rob the poor (cutting Medicaid and SNAP — food stamps) to pay the rich (more tax breaks for the top individuals and corporations). If you don’t think that it is loaded with disturbing provisions, then why were hearings literally held at one in the morning and the final vote was conducted over night? Sure must be proud of it.

“Corruption is paid by the poor.” — Pope Francis (2014)

← Older Entries